Child Labor

Anupam Nath/Associated Press

News about Child Labor, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Dec. 29, 2014

Editorial demands federal rules to prevent child labor in tobacco fields, practice allowable under law as long as parents give consent; applauds move by some tobacco companies to restrict child labor; warns since Rep David Cicilline's bill prohibiting children under age 18 from working in tobacco fields is unlikely to pass in Republican-controlled Congress, Obama administration can utilize Department of Labor to enact age restrictions. MORE

Oct. 30, 2014

Op-Ed article by filmmaker and author Lipika Pelham points out there are millions of child laborers in Bangladesh, many earning no pay; holds although many people in country would deny it, Bangladesh practices its own form of slavery. MORE

Oct. 11, 2014

Kailash Satyarthi, co-winner of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize, has labored over India’s numbingly huge problem of child slavery, and his organization is credited with freeing some 70,000 children from forced labor; Satyarthi is eighth Indian to win a Nobel, and only the second, after Mother Teresa, to win the Peace Prize. MORE

Sep. 7, 2014

Public health experts say hundreds of children continue to work in America's tobacco fields, where they are exposed to hazardous conditions due to exposure to nicotine and other chemicals; opponents of child labor are hoping to revive proposal quashed by Obama administration in 2012, which sought to make this work illegal for children under 16, after midterm elections are over. MORE

Aug. 29, 2014

China Labor Watch reports finding more than 10 children working at factory of HEG Technology, China-based supplier for the technology giants Samsung Electronics and the Lenovo Group; supplier denies accusations. MORE

Jul. 11, 2014

Presence of at least three under-age workers at Shinyang Electronics factory in southern China casts cloud over the labor practices of Samsung and its suppliers; while Samsung demands that its suppliers not hire workers under 18, trying to ensure that supplier factories comply with guidelines set by global companies, as well as China's labor laws, is difficult. MORE

May. 18, 2014

Editorial warns that children as young as 7 are working in tobacco farms in North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia, with many suffering from symptoms of acute nicotine poisoning; cites study from Human Rights Watch painting grim picture of child labor in United States, and calls for changes to child labor laws that allow hazardous agricultural work. MORE

Jan. 2, 2014

Nicholas D Kristof Op-Ed column shares the story of Marilaine, Haitian teenager who tried to find her family and escape her life as an unpaid laborer; notes that even after finding her family, Marilaine's story did not end happily; contends the story shows that what is at stake in fighting poverty is not just poor people's incomes, but also dignity and freedom. MORE

Dec. 24, 2013

Model Alliance, unusual labor organization for fashion models founded by model Sara Ziff, is working to prevent abuses like agencies cheating models out of pay and coercive contracts; New York State passed bill in October 2013, championed by alliance, that significantly increases protections for child models (Series: Reworking Labor). MORE

Oct. 23, 2013

Gov Andrew M Cuomo has signed legislation that will recognize fashion models under age of 18 as child performers; new law, which outlines working hours for underage models, will have a significant impact on casting of models for New York Fashion Week in February 2014. MORE

Jun. 13, 2013

The State Legislature’s measure has the potential to alter not only hiring practices in the fashion industry, but also the overall look of those appearing at Fashion Week. MORE

Feb. 26, 2013

India is trying to address the widespread problem of child labor, but coal mines in Meghalaya State demonstrate that enforcement is sorely lacking; 2010 report found 200 children--some as young as 5--working in 10 local mines, leading to further investigations. MORE

Feb. 7, 2013

Dublin Journal; daughters of a woman who was held in one of Ireland’s notorious Magdalene Laundries, or forced labor workhouses for girls, have been campaigning for an apology from the state for 10 years. MORE

Apr. 6, 2012

New Delhi couple who were arrested on charges of abusing their 13-year-old maid denies all charges, claiming the girl was treated like family; story has made front-page news and renewed attention on the exploitation of children in India. MORE

Apr. 5, 2012

Thirteen-year-old Indian girl who worked as a maid reportedly led a life akin to slavery, in a symptom of India’s growing middle class and its surging demand for domestic workers, jobs often filled by children; Indian law offers limited safeguards and limited enforcement to protect such children, and public attitudes are usually permissive in a society where even in the lowest rungs of the middle class, families often have at least one live-in servant. MORE

Feb. 16, 2012

Marc Jacobs takes provocative stance against rule issued by the Council of Fashion Designers of America requiring that runway models be at least age 16 or older; knowingly hires two younger girls for his New York Fashion Week show, arguing that if their parents give their permission, he should not have to turn them away. MORE

Feb. 9, 2012

Council of Fashion Designers of America, as part of their guidelines to curb reckless behavior in the fashion industry, urge members to insist on seeing identification from models to prove that they are age 16 by the time of their shows. MORE

Jan. 1, 2012

Gil Scott-Heron Lives essay describes his first job working as an underage dishwasher at a restaurant in the Bronx. MORE

Dec. 6, 2011

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich seeks to clarify statements he has made about rolling back some child labor laws; Gingrich's defense of his position underlines his tendency to speak bluntly, provocatively and sometimes impulsively, which may be part of his emerging appeal, but which also raises questions about his ability to stay on message. MORE

Dec. 3, 2011

Charles M Blow Op-Ed column holds that recent statements from Republican presidential contender Newt Gingrich about poor children not having working parents as role models is not only cruel and incorrect, but mind-numbingly tone-deaf at a time when poverty is rising across America. MORE